Bitcoin News: Bitcoin Recovers to $67,000 After Crashing to Nine-Week Low — US-Iran Strikes Wipe $1.83 Billion in Leveraged Positions
Bitcoin has recovered to approximately $67,000 after plunging to $65,385 on Coinbase in early Wednesday trading — its lowest level since late March — as fresh US-Iran military strikes triggered the largest single-day crypto liquidation event of 2026 and sent total crypto market capitalization down by approximately $150 billion.
The recovery from the session low provides some technical relief, but the damage from Tuesday's 7% daily decline — the largest single-day drop since February 5 — has left Bitcoin 47% below its October all-time high of $126,000 and still below critical support levels that analysts had been watching.
The liquidation cascade: $1.83 billion, 277,000 traders
CoinGlass data shows approximately 277,000 traders were liquidated over the past 24 hours, with total forced closures reaching $1.83 billion — the largest liquidation event since the cycle began. More than 90% of the wiped positions were long bets, primarily in Bitcoin and Ethereum, confirming that the market had been positioned for a recovery that the Iran escalation prevented from materializing.
The scale dwarfs the $958 million liquidation event from two weeks ago and reflects how much leveraged long positioning had rebuilt despite the sustained ETF outflow streak and price weakness of the prior three weeks.
What triggered the move: fresh US-Iran strikes
US Central Command stated Tuesday that it had successfully defeated multiple Iranian ballistic missiles and drones and conducted "self-defense strikes" on Qeshm Island in response to attempted Iranian attacks across the Middle East. Iran launched several ballistic missiles toward regional neighbors — two at Kuwait and three at Bahrain — though CENTCOM reported all failed to hit their intended targets.
The latest exchange of strikes comes amid a fragile two-month ceasefire that has included indirect talks on extending the ceasefire and lifting the Strait of Hormuz blockade. Iran's Tasnim news agency reported Tuesday that Iran would halt all conversations with the US until Israel ceased attacking Lebanon — a development that briefly threatened to completely derail the peace process.
President Trump pushed back on that characterization directly, posting on Truth Social: "Reports that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the USA stopped speaking a few days ago are false and erroneous. The conversations between us have been going on continuously, including four days ago, three days ago, two days ago, one day ago, and today." Trump's statement provides the basis for the partial recovery to $67,000 — markets are treating the peace process as damaged but not dead.
What is actually driving the drop: more than Iran
Andri Fauzan Adziima, research lead at Bitrue Research Institute, offered important nuance on the causes of the selloff. "Bitcoin's current drop is more about leveraged liquidations, heavy ETF outflows, and technical breakdowns than pure Iran news, but it amplifies the fear," he told CoinTelegraph.
The Iran headline was the match, but the fuel had been accumulating for weeks: a record 10-day ETF outflow streak totaling $2.97 billion, Strategy's first Bitcoin sale in four years shaking confidence in the largest corporate accumulation narrative, whale distribution at the fastest pace this cycle, and a progressive technical breakdown through $76,000, $74,000, $72,000, $70,000, and now $65,000 in rapid succession.
Where support sits and what a recovery requires
Adziima said he expected "choppy consolidation" from here, with real support sitting in the $64,000 to $65,000 zone — a level Bitcoin briefly touched before recovering to $67,000. "Any de-escalation or strong macro rebound could potentially spark a sharp relief rally," he added.
The recovery to $67,000 from the $65,385 low suggests that the $64,000 to $65,000 support zone is functioning as intended — buyers are stepping in at those levels even amid the geopolitical noise. Whether the recovery holds or the market makes another attempt at that support will depend heavily on the next development in US-Iran communications and Thursday's scheduled macroeconomic data including Fed speeches from New York Fed President Williams and Governor Bowman.
The 200-week exponential moving average at approximately $69,000 — which Bitcoin broke through on the way down — now serves as immediate resistance on any recovery attempt. Reclaiming that level would be the first technical signal that the current leg lower is exhausting itself.
The broader picture
Bitcoin's crash to $65,385 arrived as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq sit at all-time highs driven by the AI trade. Google's $80 billion capital raise, Marvell Technology's 18% surge on Nvidia's endorsement, and the flood of institutional capital into AI infrastructure continue to draw money away from digital assets at exactly the moment crypto needs buyers most. The divergence between record equity markets and Bitcoin at nine-week lows is now at its widest point of 2026 — and narrowing that gap remains entirely dependent on external catalysts that have so far failed to materialize.